Latent Philosophies
by Roberly
Summary: The rebuilding of Hogwarts after the Final Battle is finished at last. Minerva McGonagall decides to throw a party and do a little matchmaking. One-shot.


_Disclaimer: I make no profit out of this, other than having fun with JKR's characters and world._

Latent Philosophies

Something was different. Severus blinked, and as he slowly woke up, he realized that there was someone else in bed with him. He vaguely remembered the night before—there had been a party to celebrate the reconstruction of Hogwarts in the aftermath of the war. It had taken nearly a year, during which time he had directed the rebuilding process. The school would be re-opening in a few weeks.

He had stepped down as headmaster, ceding the position to Minerva, and would be taking up the mantle of the DADA instructor again. Minerva had decided to hold a party for the staff and all those who had participated in rebuilding the school. He had drunk too much—he could remember kissing someone, and then...

Here he was, in his bed, with a woman. This was not the usual sort of occurrence for him, but he reflected that it was rather pleasant. The room was still mostly dark, so he couldn't tell who she was—and he couldn't quite remember at the moment.

She stirred slightly, moving closer to him, and he accomodated her, letting her settle more comfortably into his arms. Something seemed very familiar about her, but he was half-asleep again, and decided he'd figure it out later.

...

Hermione, as she woke up, realized she wasn't in her own bed. She was somewhere else. She tried to remember what had happened the night before, but only had vague recollections. There had been a man—someone she found quite interesting—and there had been kissing and other things. The solid warmth of someone else in bed with her was something she hadn't experienced in quite a while. It was nice, she thought. Then she rolled over to see who she was with and froze in shock.

His eyes opened and he stared at her, utterly surprised. "Miss Granger?" he managed to say.

"Professor Snape?" Hermione blinked. No, it was still him. "Um, do you remember anything about last night?" she asked.

"Not really," he said. "Bits and pieces."

"Me, too," she said. "I think I had a lot to drink."

"As did I."

"Damn," she said. "I wish I could remember."

"You—aren't upset?" He sounded surprised.

Hermione smiled. "Is that the usual response for women when they wake up in bed with you?"

"I don't know," he said. "I've never had a woman spend the night with me before. Usually they storm out quite soon afterwards."

"Oh," she said. "Well, I'm not upset. Except with myself for drinking so much that I can't remember what we did."

"Given our state..." he began.

"Yes, looks like. Damn," she said again. "I finally get you to notice me and then I can't remember anything."

He stared into her eyes. "You wanted me?"

"For quite a while, actually," she said.

"I see," he said. "And why is that?"

"Well, you're...amazing. Why would you notice me that way?" She blushed.

He couldn't resist. He kissed her.

...

Some time later, Hermione said, "Well, I think I'll remember that."

"Good," he said. "You'd better. I put a lot of effort in."

"What, are you saying I did nothing?" she protested, rolling over on top of him and pinning him to the mattress.

"If I do, what would your reaction be?" he asked.

She laughed and kissed him again.

...

Much later, they got around to discussing other things. "Severus, is this more than just sex?" Hermione asked him.

"Shouldn't it be?" he asked.

"I was hoping it would," she said. "I mean, I've never really been the sort to have casual sex, but if that's all you wanted..."

"No," he said, embracing her. "I think I'd like more than that. Quite a lot more, in fact."

...

They managed to drag themselves out of bed in the early afternoon. Severus rummaged through the small kitchen in his quarters, and while he made sandwiches, Hermione wandered around his sitting room and found that he'd read a lot of the same books that she had. Over lunch, they argued about philosophy and found that so interesting that they made tea and settled on his sofa to discuss the philosophers they disliked the most.

They were in the middle of a passionate debate about the flaws in Cartesian philosophy when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in," called Severus.

Minerva opened the door. "Oh, there you both are," she said. "I was beginning to wonder. Are you planning to show up for supper?"

"When's supper?" Hermione asked.

"In about two hours," said Minerva. "Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley are starting to worry about you, Hermione."

Hermione sighed. "I should probably go before Harry pulls out the Marauder's Map and finds me down here."

"Do you really think he'd be a problem?" Severus asked.

"No, but I don't really want you hexing one of my best friends," she said. "We can tell them at supper, where there are lots of witnesses."

"Good point," he said.

"I see you've settled things," said Minerva.

"Well, probably not entirely," said Hermione. "But yes."

"I think we got side-tracked by Descartes and Rousseau," said Severus.

Minerva looked like she wanted to laugh. "I knew you were perfect for each other," she said.

Severus suddenly looked suspicious. "You didn't..."

"I just waited until you were both inebriated and pushed you towards each other," she said. "That's all it took."

"Thanks, Minerva," said Hermione. "I appreciate it. Okay, I'm going." She kissed Severus and got to her feet. "Mind if I use the Floo?"

"Not at all," he said. "I'll see you at supper."

She stepped into the fireplace and was gone. She emerged in the Gryffindor common room, and hurried up the stairs to the dormitory she'd been staying in while they restored the castle. She had a long hot shower and got dressed in jeans, a favourite t-shirt, and a casual set of robes. She was brushing out her hair when Ginny showed up.

"There you are," she said. "Harry finally got the map out and it said you were up here. Where have you been all day?"

"Busy," said Hermione, working a tangle out.

Ginny's eyes narrowed. "Lavender told me she saw you snogging Professor Snape last night."

Hermione stopped brushing her hair. "Did she?"

"Yes. And then we couldn't find you earlier. What happened?"

Hermione started brushing her hair again. "What do you think?"

"You didn't!" Ginny exclaimed.

She grinned. "Actually, I did. Or we did."

"And?" said Ginny, sitting down on Hermione's bed. "What now? I mean, you've fancied him for ages."

"We're dating. Or whatever you want to call it." Hermione pulled her hair back into a marginally neat ponytail. "I'll tell the boys at supper. I want to have lots of witnesses so they can't make a huge fuss."

"Harry won't mind so much," said Ginny. "He gets along better with Professor Snape now than he used to. Ron's the one you'll have to worry about. Although, I guess it's probably a good thing that Harry didn't check the map earlier."

"Especially not this morning," said Hermione. "I don't think we would've been happy about the interruption."

"What about this afternoon?" Ginny asked wickedly.

"We were arguing about philosophy, so we probably wouldn't have been happy about the interruption then, either."

_Author's Note: Just a random piece lurking on my hard drive. Hope you enjoyed it!_


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